Environmental Engineering Reference
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from changes in glacier and snow-melt have been more variable across the
canton.
In the Chilean case, there are greater challenges in developing the baseline of
adequate data to effectively manage water quality challenges and administer the
allocation of water rights. However, interestingly, this is not linked to a low level of
expertise, but rather to capacity challenges in the designated institutions for water
management, as opposed to the other ministries or sectors that have a stake in water
resources. It is the application of water and climate information to both short and
long term water management decisions that is the challenge. Therefore, while there
is evidence of climate change relevant studies and evaluations being present across
sector-specific institutions, there is a struggle to apply this information thematically
to water challenges and to holistic water management planning (e.g. reservoir and
groundwater planning for Aconcagua Project).
Furthermore, the lack of relevance of water data and calculations for drought
management and the historically short time periods used for water allocations,
suggests a lack of applicability and appropriateness of information for both short
and long term management. Other studies have noted the challenges of overcoming
institutional complexity and inertia to ensure that models and data are not main-
tained after they have been rendered useless (Peters 1987 in Tompkins and Adger
2005
). Furthermore, national level studies on climate change impacts and adapta-
tion tend to be sector specific. There are also few mechanisms to objectively evaluate
the ability of the local water system (physical and institutional) to cope with
increased drought situations or integrate climate impacts into basin level water
resource planning.
In both cases, observational awareness of climate change impacts do not auto-
matically translate into an integration of climate change relevant adaptation strate-
gies for coping with the longer term impacts of the change that is being observed.
Additionally, the massive implications of greater magnitudes of change induce a
level of apathy across different sectors (hydropower, domestic water provision) that
reinforce the notion that planning for larger scales of change is pointless. In the
Swiss water provision context, the acknowledgement that larger scale changes are
likely to occur is tempered by the understanding that drastic impacts from glacier
reduction will not manifest over the next generation, and therefore there is no need
to include preparations for such impacts at present. However, it is the laws, con-
tracts and infrastructural projects that are being planned now that will need to be
relevant and adequate in 10-20 years, just as climate impacts heighten. Decisions
made now could lock in the SES to out of date rules, data and management solutions
just as the agreements, projects and contracts signed 20-80 years ago have locked
in present day management in both case areas (hydro-power concession periods;
water rights allocations; urban growth; spatial planning).
Another related challenge is matching the scales at which hydro-climatic exper-
tise and knowledge is generated, deployed and communicated within the scales
where adaptation actions are implemented and climate impacts are experienced.
A challenge in the Swiss case, is matching the level of expertise with the local level
at which water is mainly governed and managed. In the Chilean case, the main issue
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